Sea Of Grass (18 page)

“Is she pretty?” Claire gently ran her hand through Tess’s blond hair and grinned when Tess actually purred.

“I don’t want to talk about Mel or anyone else. And if you don’t kiss me soon—”

Claire leaned over and placed a gentle kiss against her warm responsive lips. After a few minutes of heavenly kisses, Claire pulled back. Both women were breathless.

Tess let out a sigh. “C’mon, I’ll show you the house. If I can walk.”

They gathered the picnic basket and headed down the ridge to the old house. “The weather is turning,” Tess said and looked up at the dark clouds.

No sooner did she say that than the clouds opened up. “Shit!” she exclaimed as the rain started. Claire laughed openly. Tess slapped the reins and the horses took off. “Hold on.” Tess laughed, and Claire grabbed her arm and did just that.

Tess pulled tightly at the reins and stopped outside the empty house. “Get the blankets in before they get wet.”

Claire jumped out, grabbed the blankets and basket, and dashed up on the porch. Tess was soaked as she quickly un-harnessed the horses, slapped them on the flanks, and they took off.

“Won’t we need them?” Claire asked the obvious as she pushed the wet hair from her face. She was not as soaked as Tess was. At least the blankets were dry. Tess pulled her hat down over her eyes and dashed onto the porch, breathing heavily.

“Shit, it came down fast. And yes, they’ll be back.” Tess took off her wet hat. “Let’s get in out of this.” She opened the door.

They walked in and Claire looked around in wonder. The foyer was huge. Directly in front of them was a long wide staircase. At the top, she saw three bedroom doors spread across the expansive hallway. She looked to the left. A double door closed off the room, and to the right, the same huge doors hid the room behind it.

“This is magnificent,” she exclaimed as she looked around. “It must have been wonderful living here.”

Tess nodded and walked to the left, pulling the double doors open. Claire followed and saw the living room. It was as everything else, very large. The stone fireplace took up most of the outside wall. Arranged around the room were sheet-covered pieces of furniture. There was a large
rolltop
desk over in one corner with a desk chair.

Tess ran her fingers through her wet hair as she loaded the fireplace with the wood that was still lying in the bin. “I’ll get this going.”

Claire walked into the spacious log-sided room. She looked around and took the sheets off the old furniture that smelled musty. “Your great-grandfather must have loved your great-grandmother very much to build something like this. It must have taken him months to build this.”

“As far as I can remember, it took him the better part of the spring and summer. And yes, he loved her very much.”

Claire heard Tess walk up behind her and gasped when she felt Tess’s arms around her waist. “My father says the
Rawlinses
are all romantics.”

Claire turned in her arms and wrapped her arms around Tess’s neck. “I sincerely hope so. But for now, you need to get out of those wet clothes.” Claire said seriously. “Take them off and we can dry them by the fire. Here, take the blanket. I’ll check out the rest of this mansion.” She avoided Tess’s grinning face as she walked out and slid the doors closed.

Tess struggled out of her wet boots, denim shirt, and jeans, then her underwear. She slipped the wool blanket around her shoulders and placed her clothes on the fireplace screen to dry. She stood there for a moment and watched the flickering flames as they danced in the huge fireplace. She smiled as she remembered how much fun she had in this house when she was a girl. How her grandparents were always hugging or touching, kissing each other.

As a kid, she thought it was mushy adult stuff. Now as an adult and on the verge of being in love truly for the first time in her life, she felt she understood all the elder
Rawlinses
. She looked around the large living room and pictured all her uncles and aunts, all her cousins before they moved away. The house seemed lonely now. She understood as well her father’s need to keep it up.
 

This was the idea she had when she talked to Chuck. This big house was ideal for a guesthouse for the Double R. “It could work,” she whispered as she looked around. Everyone should be seeing this magnificent Montana landscape and this house, preserved so well.

With that, Claire opened the sliding door and poked her head in. “C’mon in. I’m decent.” Tess laughed as she wrapped the blanket around her and sat on the couch facing the fire.

Claire sat on the opposite side and Tess gave her a smug grin but said nothing. “Check out the rest of the house?”
 

Claire nodded. “There are six bedrooms…”

“Seven actually. When Grandma got sick, Granddad made the back storage room a bedroom. They slept there from then until Grandma died. She couldn’t make the stairs anymore. C’mon, I’ll show you.”

She walked out, pulling the blanket around her as Claire followed. “And, yes, Claire. I am naked under this blanket.”

“Don’t start, Tess.”

Tess laughed and opened the door at the end of the hall. Inside was a huge bedroom.

“He knocked out a space for the windows and put a small fireplace in for her. Isn’t it cozy?”

Claire looked around the large room. A four-poster bed was on the far wall. The fireplace was on the outside wall, a small overstuffed chair in front of that. One lone dresser stood on the opposite wall from the fireplace. It was cozy, warm, and very inviting.

“Yes, it’s very cozy. You said no one lives here, but the entire house seems lived in.”

“Dad’s been coming here. I’m sure he hated to see everything
covered in sheets. So he and Steve had been sort of looking after it.”

“I guess the romantic soul runs deep in the Rawlins family. C’mon, let’s get you back in front of the fire,” Claire ordered and ushered her out.

Tess retrieved two beers from the basket. “A little warm, but what the hell,” she said and offered one to Claire.

They sat on the couch as the lightning flashed and the thunder rolled. Claire jumped and scooted closer to Tess, who welcomed the closeness. She snaked her bare arm out of the wool blanket and reached for Claire’s hand, which was shaking.

“You afraid of storms?” Tess asked quietly.

“Yes. It’s stupid I know, but when I was a girl on Long Island, it seemed it was always raining. You’d think I’d get used to it.” She chuckled nervously and drank her beer.

“I thought you were from Portland.”

Claire pulled away from her and stared at the fire.

“Tell me about your life,” Tess said. Claire shrugged but said nothing. “And don’t give me the short one-word answers like last time. Tell me about you, about your life.”

Claire pondered this for a moment. She knew Tess had a right to know about her life. She also knew that she’d tell her all of it someday… Maybe.

“It’s boring stuff.”

“But you were married. You must have been in love,” she gently prodded.

Claire took a deep breath and a long pull on the beer bottle. “Tess…” she began and stopped when the thunder cracked overhead. She jumped straight up in the air and Tess followed her, holding on to her blanket.

Claire immediately clung to Tess, the blanket confining her movements. “It’s all right,” she whispered into her ear. She saw the faraway look in Claire’s blue eyes as she gazed into the fire.

“My word, what’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” Tess walked over to her clothes. The shirt and undergarments were dry, but the heavy denim jeans were still damp. She turned them over and set them once again on the fireplace screen.

She turned to see Claire watching her. “You’d best turn around,” Tess offered as she held up her shirt and undergarments. Claire raised an eyebrow and stood still. Tess swallowed but was up to the challenge. “Suit yourself,” she said with a shrug. It was actually a shiver.

Standing in front of the fire, she slipped the blanket down to her waist and secured it, then pulled her shirt on over her head.

“Beautiful,” Claire murmured as Tess buttoned her shirt.

“I am not beautiful, Claire Redmond. I’m afraid that word can only describe yourself,” Tess said in a low voice. She ran her fingers through her hair and turned to her.

Claire slowly walked up to her and finished buttoning her shirt. “All right, then you’re a handsome woman, Tess Rawlins. Is that better?”

Grinning with embarrassment, Tess said nothing. She reached out and held Claire’s hands. With that, both heard the sound of horses outside. Tess whirled and grabbed her jeans, struggling into them. She dashed for the door just in time to see Chuck and Stan dismounting. She noticed they had Stella with them, saddled and ready.

“It’s the herd, Tess. Somebody was shooting and they took off. The cattle are restless, and I’m …”

On that, they heard it. Claire had no idea what was happening. It sounded like thunder.

“Stampede, shit!” Tess cried out and grabbed Claire. “Stay up here. Do not get off this porch.”

“But…” Claire started, but Tess had already swung up on Stella.

“Stay put. I’ll be back to get you,” she yelled, and all three galloped through the grassland.

Off in the distance, on the high ridge, Claire saw it. She blinked several times in amazement. The rain had stopped, and the late afternoon sun tried to peek through. It seemed like thousands of them… The herd was on a stampede heading right for the old house.

What happened next was remarkable. Two other riders had joined Tess, Chuck, and Stan. They fanned out, riding right at the stampeding cattle. Waving their cowboy hats and screaming like banshees, they rode closer to the charging herd.

Claire held her breath as she watched Tess galloping, clicking her legs wildly against the horse’s side, her white shirt billowing in the wind as she yelled, screamed, and waved her hat furiously against the oncoming herd.

It was amazing. The cattle nearly came to a halt as they dispersed and ran in every direction. The force of the stampede seemed to dissipate, but they still came in her direction. In a heartbeat, the herd was almost at the front door, running in all directions, kicking up dirt and grass.

Claire stepped back and plastered herself against the front door, petrified. The thunderous sound was all around her. She was helpless but to watch through the dust as the cattle streamed by the house. With a crash, she looked over to see the buckboard rolling over, the cattle trampling it into kindling.

She then saw Tess riding like the wind in the wake of the stampede. She came to a screeching halt, pulling on the reins.

“Are you all right?” she called out.

Claire nodded. “I’m fine!” she yelled back and Tess nodded.

“Stay right there. I have to go with them. Don’t worry.”

Claire nodded. “Go!” she called, and Tess took off around the house.

Claire watched her ride out of sight. She finally breathed as the dust cleared. She sat on the porch steps before she collapsed. I don’t know how that woman does it, she thought as her entire body shook with the adrenaline that surged through her body. “I think I may faint,” she said seriously.

An hour later, Claire heard her. She ran to the front door to see Tess and Stan riding up slowly. Tess looked like hell. She was filthy and sweaty as was Stan. Claire dashed onto the porch to greet them. She stopped when Tess swayed slightly in the saddle. Stan reached over and caught her before she slipped off the horse.

“What happened?” Claire exclaimed as Tess shook her head.